


Unattended

by astudyinfic



Series: Holidays 2020 [19]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Janto is more background than foreground, M/M, Not Beta Read, team shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28196172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: Ianto left a box unattended on his desk.  Considering this was Torchwood, the team feels they are justifiably worried.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Series: Holidays 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036116
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	Unattended

**Author's Note:**

> **Day 19: Ribbon**
> 
> Prompts can be found [here](https://astudyinfic.tumblr.com/post/635866337200259072/decided-it-was-time-for-a-new-holiday-prompt-list).

"Any idea what it is?" Gwen asked as they all looked at the box with varying levels of concern. Generally, boxes left lying around the Hub were considered suspicious until proven otherwise. The fact that Ianto was the one to leave it there and then disappear without even leaving a note made it more concerning. If anyone was going to be moving dangerous tech around, it would be him. 

So they all regarded the box carefully, trying to ascertain if it posed any threat.

“Ianto wouldn’t have left it out if he thought it was dangerous,” Tosh pointed out reasonably, though she was still scanning it for any sign of danger. “He would have locked it up and placed it somewhere we couldn’t simply stumble upon it and get hurt in the process.” Ianto was thoughtful and methodical, and if it was a threat to any of them, he would have taken the proper care to deal with it, no matter how urgent his other business might have been.

“Or Harkness distracted him and neither of them even considered the fact that they were dooming us all to death or dismemberment.” Owen had a point as well. When Jack was involved, it was far more likely for Ianto to make mistakes. The young man might be meticulous, but he was also governed by his heart, and everyone knew that his heart belonged to Jack now. 

Well, everyone but perhaps Jack. He continued to act oblivious. (They all hoped it was an act, at least)

Gwen poked at it. It was a simple metal box, nothing too unusual about it except for a bit of wire tying it together like ribbon. It was very much like a strangely industrial idea of a Christmas present. Which made Gwen think that this wasn’t anything to do with alien tech and probably some errand Ianto ran and didn’t want to carry around for the rest of the day. 

Though the packaging materials did suggest that it was trying to keep something in, rather than keep anything out.

“There biological traces on the outside and the inside,” Tosh was saying, scanning the box with one of her own devices. “I can’t get a complete reading through the box but whatever is inside is definitely carbon-based.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “Oh good. That only narrows it down to a few hundred planets of origin.” He crossed his arms, glaring at the box. “And only two-thirds of them could be considered hostile. I’m sure it’s fine.”

Carefully, Gwen picked up the box and frowned. “It’s not as heavy as it looks. I thought it would feel like lead.”

Tosh quickly shook her head. “Looks like tin. We could run some more tests, see if we can narrow it down.”

“Or we could leave it here until Ianto gets back and tells us what it is.”

“ _OR_ ,” Owen grumbled, “we could just lock it down in the archives and let Tea Boy deal with it when he gets back.”

They were still arguing about it when they heard Jack and Ianto return. They laughed about something none of the rest of the team could hear and while Owen rolled his eyes and Gwen sulked, Tosh smiled, glad that her friends had found happiness with one another. They might be an unexpected couple, but they worked well together and she was happy for them. 

Maybe someday, their luck would wear off on her as well. 

“Is this going to kill us?” Gwen asked the moment they were within earshot. Ianto and Jack both looked at her with perplexed expressions but Ianto caught on sooner than Jack did. 

He shook his head. “Probably not, but you can never be too careful. You didn’t open it, did you?”

“No! What would have happened?” Gwen asked at the same time Owen started to rant about being irresponsible and leaving something dangerous around. “Not like you, I have to say, I’m disappointed.” The irony of Owen lecturing anyone about being irresponsible was not lost on any of them. 

Ianto took the box and slid it across the table to sit in front of him. “I didn’t think I needed to warn everyone to stay away from things on my own desk. I’ll leave a note next time, shall I?”

“That’s a start! If this is dangerous, what does it matter if it’s on your desk if it can still kill us all.”

“Gwen does have a point, Ianto,” Jack said, and they were all mildly surprised that Jack seemed as confused about the box as the rest of them. “Tech should be locked up, even if you think it’s safe on your desk.”

Ianto rolled his eyes in a gesture that said more than most people could hope to convey with thousands of words. “I never said it was tech. That was them.”

“You said it was dangerous!”

“I said it probably wasn’t dangerous but that one should be careful. Where you got ‘tech’ from that comment, I don’t know.”

They all fell silent at that, aware he had a point but none of them ready to admit it just yet. “So,” Tosh finally said after a tense moment passed. “If it isn’t tech, and probably isn’t dangerous, but we should be careful, it contains carbon-based biological material, and it is packaged like that...what IS it?”

“I should have known you would have scanned it. I haven’t opened it yet but I know what it is.” Ianto tugged at the wires that were tied in a bow on top. “They think they are funny.”

Jack caught on, finally, and started to laugh, bent over with his hands on the table. “Oh, this is _that?_ Yes, you definitely need to be careful with that.”

“Will you just tell us what it is?! And who sent it?!” Gwen’s exasperation was about to reach critical mass, so Ianto hurried to get the box open before she could blow. 

He took out a strange, unshapely thing and set it on the table. They all looked confused trying to decipher what it is. “My sister sent this to me. They believe I work for a tech firm and think the packaging is funny. _That,_ ” he said, gesturing to the thing Tosh suspected might be food, “is my sister’s infamous fruitcake. Not poisonous, per se, but she generally uses enough rum to down several large men. It’s generally considered one of the most potent fruitcakes in the region.”

“I’ve had alien cocktails that were less intoxicating than that thing.” Jack was still laughing, though they were small chuckles now rather than the full belly laugh from before. “And before you ask, no, it really isn’t edible. She tries, but is only mildly successful.”

“But none of us wish to hurt her feelings so we don’t say anything. I was going to throw it away but since the box was nice, I wanted to save it. That’s why it is sitting here.”

Tosh and Owen were laughing now but Gwen continued to frown. “So, not alien tech just...cake?”

“Yep. Highly alcoholic, inedible cake. Merry Christmas from my family to yours.”

Everyone watched him toss it - box and all - in the bin and the moment Jack and Ianto were out of sight, they grabbed the box. "It can't really be as bad as they're saying, can it?" Gwen asked.

"Only one way to find out."

It _was_ as bad as they were saying. It really, really was.

**Author's Note:**

> (Played a little fast and loose with the prompt today but I like the way it turned out.)


End file.
